Motion-Based Message Display

ABSTRACT

Computer-implemented methods, apparatus, and computer program product, the method comprising: receiving a reading from a sensor associated with a mobile computing device used by a user; determining based on the reading whether the device is in movement exceeding a threshold; responsive to the movement exceeding the threshold, displaying a message in a first manner; and responsive to the movement not exceeding the threshold, displaying the message in a second manner. The first manner may be associated with the message obstructing content displayed on the device; and the second manner may be associated with content displayed on the device being obstructed less than when the movement exceeds the threshold. The first manner may be associated with the message being bolder and the second manner may be associated with message being less bolder than when the movement exceeds the threshold.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional Application No.please provide me with the number 61/820,732 filed May 8, 2013, which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to mobile devices in general, and to amethod and apparatus for displaying messages to users of mobile devicesor changing message appearance, in particular.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, electronic technology, including communicationtechnology, has revolutionized our everyday lives. Electroniccommunication devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers or othershave permeated the lives of almost every person living in the developedworld, and quite a number of people living in undeveloped countries.Mobile communication and computing devices, especially, have become themeans by which countless millions consume and share information andcommunicate in various forms such as e-mail, text messages and inparticular surfing the Internet and using web-based applications.

In order to finance the various costs associated with the web sites,including but not limited to storage, content creation andadministration, and thus enable the prosperity of internet sites and webapplications, their owners and providers usually take one of twoapproaches: charging the users or selling screen space and displayingmessages such as advertisements. The first approach of charging theusers has its drawbacks as users are becoming more and more reluctant topay for information they feel should be free. The second approach, ofselling screen space to advertisers is also problematic: users find themessages and in particular advertisements annoying, avoid cooperating bynot clicking on links, and most of all stop noticing and recognizing themessages. Advertisers and web site owners on the other hand become moreaggressive, for example by displaying a pre-content message taking upthe whole screen, which can be eliminated only after a predeterminedperiod of time, displaying messages showing moving objects, or messageswhich move from one location on the screen to the other in order toattract the viewer's attention, or the like. In some cases, the user maybecome so antagonistic to the displayed messages, that only after themessage has disappeared, he or she realizes they may be interested inthe product or service, but then may have no access to it. In othercases, the messages become so aggressive and annoying that some usersmay avoid the site at all.

There is thus a need in the art for a method and system for displayingmessages in a manner that would not annoy users and make them developantagonism to the displayed product or service, but will still benoticed and effective so that the users will internalize and rememberthe message.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter is acomputer-implemented method performed by a computerized device,comprising: receiving a reading from a sensor associated with a mobilecomputing device used by a user; determining based on the readingwhether the device is in movement exceeding a threshold; responsive tothe movement exceeding the threshold, displaying a message in a firstmanner; and responsive to the movement not exceeding the threshold,displaying the message in a second manner. Within the method, the firstmanner is optionally associated with the message obstructing content onthe device, and the second manner is optionally associated with contentdisplayed on the device being obstructed less than when the movementexceeds the threshold. Within the method, the threshold is optionallydetermined in accordance with a situation of the user. The method mayfurther comprise determining a position of the user. Within the method,the position is optionally selected from the group consisting of:walking, standing, sitting and lying. The method may further comprisedetermining whether the user and the mobile computing device are in amoving environment. The method may further comprise determining asituation of the user; and determining the threshold based on thesituation. The method may further comprise determining a type of vehiclethe user and the mobile computing device are in; and determining thethreshold based on the type of vehicle. The method may further compriseresponsive to the movement exceeding the threshold, determining based onthe reading whether the movement is due to the device and the user beingin a moving vehicle; and responsive to determining that the device andthe user are in a moving vehicle, displaying the message such thatcontent displayed on the device is obstructed less than when themovement exceeds the threshold. Within the method, when the readingindicates increasing motion, the message is optionally displayed moreboldly and the content is displayed in a more obstructed manner. Withinthe method, the message is optionally abruptly displayed in a moreprominent manner and the content is abruptly displayed in a moreobstructed manner. Within the method, when the reading indicatesdecreasing motion, the message is optionally displayed less boldly andthe content is displayed in a less disrupted manner. Within the method,the message is optionally displayed less boldly and the content isdisplayed in a less obstructed manner after a predetermined delay.Within the method, the message is optionally gradually faded out and thecontent is gradually displayed in a less obstructed manner. Within themethod, the movement not exceeding the threshold or the movementindicating that user and the device are in a moving vehicle, may beassociated with the user being attentive to the device, and the movementexceeding the threshold and not associated with a moving vehicle isassociated with the user being inattentive to the device. Within themethod, the message is optionally displayed with a graphic aspectcorresponding to the content displayed on the device. Within the method,the message is optionally displayed with a shadow surrounding figures orletters or the message . Within the method, a difference between thefirst manner and the second manner may relate to one or more factorsselected from the list consisting of: boldness, location; rotationangle; vibration; color; size; animation; addition of a moving element,addition of a moving element to a banner; and adding an element.

Another exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter is anapparatus comprising a mobile device having a processing unit and astorage device, the apparatus comprising: a sensor for providingmovement indication of the mobile device; a sensor communicationcomponent for receiving a reading from the sensor; a movement assessmentcomponent for determining based on the reading whether the mobile deviceis in movement exceeding a threshold; and a display component for (i)displaying a message in a first manner responsive to the mobile devicebeing in movement exceeding a threshold, and (ii) displaying the messagein a second manner when the movement exceeds the threshold, responsiveto the movement being below the threshold. Within the apparatus, thefirst manner optionally relates to displaying a message whileobstructing content displayed on the mobile device, and the secondmanner optionally relates to the content being less obstructed than whenthe movement exceeds the threshold, responsive to the movement beingbelow the threshold. The apparatus may further comprise a vehicle typedetermination component for determining based on one or more readings inwhich vehicle type the mobile device and a user thereof are. Theapparatus may further comprise a threshold assessment component fordetermining the threshold. The apparatus may further comprise a stateassessment component for determining attention level of a user using themobile device based on output of the movement assessment component.Within the apparatus, the reading optionally indicates increasingmovements, the message is displayed more boldly and the content isdisplayed in a more obstructed manner. Within the apparatus, the messageis optionally abruptly displayed more boldly and the content isoptionally displayed abruptly in a more disrupted manner. Within theapparatus, the reading optionally indicates decreasing movements, andthe message is optionally displayed less boldly and the content isdisplayed in a less disrupted manner. Within the apparatus, the messageis optionally displayed less boldly and the content is optionallydisplayed in a less disrupted manner only after a predetermined delay.Within the apparatus, the message is optionally gradually faded out andthe content is optionally gradually displayed in a less disruptedmanner. Within the apparatus, the movement not exceeding the thresholdor the movement indicating that user and the mobile device are in amoving vehicle is optionally associated with the user being attentive tothe mobile device, and the movement exceeding the threshold and notassociated with a moving vehicle is optionally associated with the userbeing inattentive to the mobile device. Within the apparatus adifference between the first manner and the second manner may relate toone or more factors selected from the list consisting of boldness;location; rotation angle; vibration; color; size; animation; addition ofa moving element, addition of a moving element to a banner; and addingan element. The apparatus may further comprise a server computingplatform for receiving a reading from the mobile device, analyzing thereading and returning a result to the mobile device.

Yet another exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter is acomputer-implemented method performed by a computerized device,comprising: receiving a reading from a sensor associated with a mobilecomputing device used by a user; determining based on the readingwhether the user is attentive to the device; responsive to the userbeing inattentive to the device, displaying a message in a first manner;and responsive to the user being attentive to the device, displaying themessage in a second manner. Within the computer-implemented method,whether the user is attentive to the device is optionally determined inaccordance with the user's looking direction and eve movements.

Yet another exemplary embodiment of the disclosed subject matter is acomputer program product comprising: a non-transitory computer readablemedium; a first program instruction for receiving a reading from asensor associated with a mobile computing device used by a user; asecond program instruction for determining based on the reading whetherthe device is in movement exceeding a threshold; a third programinstruction for responsive to the movement exceeding the threshold,displaying a message in a first manner; and a fourth program instructionfor responsive to the movement not exceeding the threshold, displayingthe message in a second manner; wherein said first and second programinstructions are stored on said non-transitory computer readable medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosed subject matter will be understood and appreciatedmore fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the drawings in which corresponding or like numerals or charactersindicate corresponding or like components. Unless indicated otherwise,the drawings provide exemplary embodiments or aspects of the disclosureand do not limit the scope of the disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show schematic illustrations of mobile devicesshowing a message when the user is attentive and inattentive,respectively, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter;

FIG. 1C shows a schematic illustration of a mobile device showing amessage when used in a moving environment, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 2A-2C show schematic illustrations of mobile devices showingmessages in various presentation manners, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 3A is a flowchart of steps in a first embodiment of a method forshowing messages in various usage modes, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 3B is a flowchart of steps in a second embodiment of a method forshowing messages in various usage modes, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosed subject matter; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the components in system used bya mobile device for showing messages in various usage modes, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed subject matter is described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of thesubject matter. It will be understood that some blocks of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Some embodiments address a problem of displaying messages to users ofmobile devices, such that on one hand the displayed messages will notannoy the users and will not make them feel they are deprived orotherwise disrupted from consuming or sharing the contents as they wouldlike to, but on the other hand, the messages should be displayed forlong enough time, and in an effective location and manner such asbolded, in order to be noticed and recognized by the users and thereforeworthwhile for the owner such as the advertiser.

Another problem dealt with by various embodiments is the userintentionally or unintentionally ignoring the messages. In some cases,the user may be so antagonistic to the message and in particularadvertisements, that only once the message disappears he or she mayrealize they may be interested but then cannot access it anymore.Additionally, the period of time in which the message is displayed istoo short for the cognitive processes related to decision making andselection, thus making the message less effective.

Another technical problem dealt with by various embodiments is the useof mobile devices in various environments such as various vehiclesmoving in different kinematic patterns. Components of the device, orprograms executed by the device may determine the movements of thedevice. However, these movements may be combinations of movements due tomotions of the user and movements due to the moving environment in whichthe device is used. In general, such movements may indicate thesituation of the person, including his position, such as standing,sitting, lying down, walking or another physical position, and theenvironment, such as whether the person is in a stable environment or ina moving environment such as a vehicle of any type. The situation mayalso be affected by additional factors such as physical condition of theuser, device processing speed, or the like. Thus, it is required todetermine the situation including the environment, and once theenvironment is determined, it is required to further determine whetherthe user is holding the device stably and may thus be consideredattentive, or not.

The term mobile device may relate to any mobile computerized device,such as a laptop, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, a smartphone, awearable device such as a computerized watch or glasses, or any othermobile device having computational resources.

The term vehicle or vehicle type refers to a moving environment, such asa bus, a train, a private car, a bike, a rickshaw, a bicycle, a plane,or the like. Each vehicle or vehicle type moves in a unique kinematicpattern, comprising a combination of accelerations and decelerations inany of the three dimensions.

The term sensor refers to a device or component located on or integratedwith a mobile device, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a GPS, atouch sensor, a camera, or the like. Each sensor may provide informationabout location, velocity, acceleration, orientation, tilt angle, or thelike, and may provide a current reading, an accumulated reading, or achange indication from a previous reading.

The term threshold refers to a predetermined value to which a measuremay be compared. Thresholds may refer to a kinematic parameter, such aslocation, velocity, acceleration, rotation angle, tilt angle or thelike, and may relate to any axis or direction.

The term state may refer to a state of a person, including for examplephysical state such as healthy or suffering from unintentionalmovements, concentrated/attentive or not which may be evaluated based onthe displayed material, for example if a scientific article is displayedthe person may be assumed to be concentrating.

The term situation of a user may refer to a combination of one or moreof the following or possibly additional factors: the physical positionof the user, such as whether the person is lying down, sitting,standing, walking or the like; the environment such as whether theperson is in a stationary environment or in a moving environment such asa vehicle; and a state of the user.

The term message may refer to an advertisement, an announcement, a pole,a news flash, a stock quote, a sports news flash, an e-mail indication,an instant messaging indication, a chat indication, a device healthmessage, an application message, a message from a web application, orothers, which may be displayed to a user.

The term environment may refer to where the device and the user arepresent, for example identification of a vehicle type. Otherenvironments may also relate to a stationary environment such as a homeor an office, or the like.

The term obstructs refers to the interrelations between a message andcontent. The message obstructing the content refers to the message beingdisplayed such that it at least partially hides, covers, disturbs orinterferes with viewing or accessing the content. Graphically, it may bedescribed as if the message is displayed over the content.

One technical solution relates to providing a system and method forassessing the movements of the mobile device which are related to theuser using the device. If the device is unstable, for example moved orrotated, it may indicate that a user is not fully attentive to thedevice, and is currently not consuming or sharing information. Underthese circumstances, a message may be displayed in a bold manner, forexample fully or partially obstructing the actual content displayed. Themessage may be displayed over a large area of the display or the like.The message may thus fully or partially obstruct or otherwise disturbthe user from viewing the actual content displayed. Additionally oralternatively, the message may otherwise be bolded in accordance withthe user's attentiveness and period of time, for example by using darkercolors, larger letters, or another wise making it more prominent ornoticeable when the user is inattentive, and vice versa. However, themessage may not prevent the user from activating the device. The usermay close the message, activate other applications, dial or answer aphone call, send or receive a message, or the like. Once the userbecomes attentive to the device, the message may keep displaying or keepbeing bolder for a short period of time so as not to annoy the user butstill have the user notice it and enable the user to react. Then themessage may gradually fade out and thus expose the content or may bemade less bold, until it eventually remains as a light background, forexample similar to watermark, or completely disappears.

Another technical solution relates to distinguishing between movementsof the device that originate from motions of the user, which mayindicate inattentiveness to the device, and movements stemming frommotions of the environment of the user and the device. Thus, onlymovements exceeding predetermined thresholds, wherein the predeterminedthresholds may be associated with the environment may be considered.

The movements of the device may be evaluated from readings or reports byany one or more sensors.

Thus, when a user is using the device while in a moving environment orin a particular physical position, motions caused by the movingenvironment may be tolerated and not interpreted as inattentiveness,such that displaying the messages may continue in the background mannerso that it does not obstruct the content. Therefore, it is required todetermine whether and which environment the user is in, and to set thethresholds accordingly.

One technical effect of utilizing some embodiments is determining when auser is attentive to the device and would probably be irritated if amessage is displayed with significant prominence and is obstructing orpreventing access to the content, and when a user is not fullyattentive, in which case the device may show one or more messages whichmay obstruct the displayed content. The user may occasionally view themessages when not attentive to the device, and may also view them for ashort time when regaining attentiveness to the device and content, Themessages may then keep showing in a fading or faded manner, such thatthe user will keep seeing them, may access them if desired, and mayinternalize and recognize them. It will be appreciated that even whenthe message is displayed with significant prominence, the user may stillretain control of the device, for example the user may hide the message,switch to another application, make a phone call or do any otheroperation with the device.

Another effect of utilizing some embodiments is the feeling ofexpectancy and continuity offered to the user, when the message does notpop up or disappear surprisingly, but rather moves between the “front”view in which it is fully visible but only for a very short durationafter the user becomes attentive to the device, and the “back” when itis visible and accessible but does not interfere with the content theuser is watching.

Yet another technical effect of utilizing some embodiments is theenablement of effective display of messages while in various kinds ofenvironments. By determining the situation of the user which may includethe type of environment, such as the type of vehicle a user is riding,the thresholds of motions indicating attentiveness or inattentivenessmay be adjusted, such that motions may be determined to be related tomovements of the environment, or to movements caused by the user, whichmay indicate inattentiveness.

Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B showing schematic illustrations ofmobile devices showing messages when the user is attentive andinattentive.

User 100 is using a mobile device 104. In FIG. 1A a user 100 is holdingthe device stably and is therefore assumed to be focusing on thedisplayed content. It will be appreciated that the term stable may alsorefer to the device moving in small motions or rotations due to naturalvariations in the user's posture and position. Such movements may becharacterized as having values of amplitude, angle, velocity, radialvelocity or any other kinematic variables or a combination thereof,below predetermined thresholds.

Since the user is assumed to be focusing, a message, for example anadvertisement 108 selected by a server providing the content displayedto the user, may be displayed in a faded or fading manner, similarly toa watermark, such that it can be noticed and seen but does not interferewith the content, such that the user can keep viewing, reading, orcreating the content.

In some embodiments, the message may be displayed in the area below thehorizontal center line in the display, for example on the third quarterfrom the top of the display.

In FIG. 1B, however, the device is moving more than the threshold inamplitude, angle, velocity, or any other parameter or combination, andthus it is assumed that the user is not attentive to the device.Therefore, a message may be displayed such that it does obstruct part orall of the displayed content as shown in advertisement 112. When thedevice motions decrease to below the threshold, the user is assumed toresume focus. Then, advertisement 112 may, possibly after apredetermined delay, fade out and appear similarly to advertisement 108described above, which does not block user 100 from consuming orcreating content with device 104.

It will be appreciated that the message being shown in multiple mannersmay be implemented in a variety of ways. In one example, the message maybe displayed as a banner, wherein the boldness of the banner mayincrease when the user is inattentive and decrease when the user isattentive. In further embodiments, when the user is inattentive thebanner may be displayed more prominently by adding a moving element,such as a bright vertical stripe moving horizontally over the banner.

Referring now to FIG. 1C, showing user 100 using device 104 while ridingbus 116 or any other vehicle such as a car, a train, a plane or thelike, Although sensors of device 104 may indicate movements larger thanany threshold, the movements may still be interpreted as caused bymovements of the whole environment and not due to user inattentiveness.Therefore, device 104 will display advertisement 108 in a faded manner,such that it will not disturb user 100 from consuming or creatingcontent.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A-2C, showing schematic illustrations of mobiledevices showing messages in various presentation manners.

FIG. 2A shows mobile device 104 showing message 112 while fullyobstructing the actual content that was displayed. The message isdisplayed when the user is inattentive to the device. Once the userresumes attention or a short time afterwards, for example between afraction of a second and a few seconds, message 112 may fade out and thecontent may become visible.

FIG. 2B shows mobile device 104 showing message 112, while the actualcontent that was displayed is fading, such that it is possible but noteasy or convenient to view it. The message is displayed when the user isinattentive to the device. Once the user resumes attention or a shorttime afterwards, for example between a fraction of a second and a fewseconds, message 112 may fade out and the actual content may bedisplayed as intended.

FIG. 2C shows mobile device 104 showing message 108 as watermark orbackground and not obstructing the actual content. Thus message 108 doesnot interfere with reading the actual content displayed. Message 108 maybe displayed as background when the user is attentive to the device andviewing the content.

It will be noted that FIG. 2B shows mobile device 104 with message 112and actual content, wherein message 112 is on the front and hides atleast part of the actual content, while FIG. 2C shows mobile device 104with message 108 and actual content, wherein message 108 on the back anddoes not hide the actual content. It will be appreciated that message108 and message 112 are the same message, only displayed in differentprominence degrees, while the actual content is also displayed indifferent manners.

In some embodiments, parts of the message may be rendered with a shadowsurrounding one or more images or letters or the whole message, suchthat the shadow separates between the message and the actual content andmakes it easy to tell the message from its surrounding.

It will be appreciated that graphic aspects of the displayed message,such as text color and font, shadow color, background color, or otherparameters may be set dynamically in accordance with the displayedcontent. For example, if the actual content contains many black andwhite parts and the message is mostly black, a third color such as redmay be selected for the shadow of the message, such that the message isclearly seen even in faded mode. Each message may be associated withpreferred or barred colors which may relate to trademarks associatedwith the message. For example, a message advertising a bank for whichthe dominant advertisement color is red, is unlikely to allow a blueshadow but is more likely to select a white message with red shadow.

Thus, the disclosure relates to presenting a message in two or moremanners, such that when the device moves less than a predeterminedthreshold or more than the predetermined threshold but in a mannerassociated with a moving environment, the user is assumed to payattention to the device, and the message is displayed such that it isvisible but does not disturb the user in viewing or creating the actualcontent displayed. When the device moves more than the threshold but ina manner that cannot be explained by a moving environment such as avehicle, the message is displayed such that it blocks or disturbs theuser from viewing the actual content. When the user resumes attention,the message may fade out gradually or abruptly, such that the actualcontent becomes fully viewable.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, showing a flowchart of steps in a firstembodiment of a method for showing messages in various usage modes.

Prior to the beginning of the disclosed steps, a system performing themethod may be in an attentive-related state or not. The state may berepresented as a binary variable associated with attentive orinattentive values. Alternatively, the state may be represented by avariable that can be assigned one of a multiplicity of valuesrepresenting a scale of attention levels.

On step 300, readings may be received from one or more sensors or othersystems associated with the mobile device. Any of the sensors mayprovide a current reading, an accumulated value, a value change since aprevious reading or the like.

On step 302, which may also be performed prior to step 300, it may bedetermined whether the user is actively operating the device, forexample scrolling, starting an application, typing a message, or thelike. If the user is indeed operating the device, step 303 is activatedin which no message is displayed.

On step 304 the readings, possibly together with previous readings maybe analyzed to determine whether they indicate movements exceeding oneor more thresholds. For example, a location difference may be checkedfor exceeding a few centimeters for example 5 cm, a rotation may bechecked for exceeding a few degrees for example 10°, or any other valueor value combination may be checked for exceeding a threshold associatedwith attentive reading of material. The thresholds may be defaultthresholds or thresholds determined earlier.

It will be appreciated that the threshold may be personalized for aparticular person or group of persons. For example, young users havingmore stable hands may be associated with lower thresholds than those ofolder people.

The default threshold may also be associated with the position of theperson, such as sitting, standing, lying down., walking or the like. Theposition may be determined based on the same measures or on additionalmeasures. For example, the user lying down may be deduced from readingsof one or more gyroscopes installed on the device.

It will also be appreciated that the threshold may be associated withthe particular message to be displayed or with the content known to bedisplayed on the mobile device. For example, a scientific article whichis likely to be read with high attentiveness may be associated withlower thresholds since it may be assumed that once a user makes evensmaller moves, he or she may not be focusing on complex material. Thethreshold may also be personalized for the specific user, for examplefor a person suffering from unstable hands or unintentional movements,specific thresholds may be set which will eliminate displaying messages.

If the readings do not exceed the threshold, indicating that the usermay be attentive, then on step 324 it is determined whether the devicewas previously in an attentive state (or in attentive state exceeding apredetermined level).

If the device indeed was in attentive state, then on step 332 themessage is being displayed in the same attentive manner it was displayed(or is newly displayed in an attentive manner), such that the messagedoes not obstruct the content. Attentive manner may relate to themessage being displayed such that it enables the user to keep reading orcreating the content, for example as a shaded message, a watermark or inanother undisturbing manner, that still allows the user to be exposed tothe message.

If the device was in inattentive state, then a predetermined delay maybe taken on step 326, to enable the user to fully view the message, andon step 328 the message display may be changed into attentive mode.Changing into attentive mode may be done by fading out a displayedmessage and showing the actual content the user is consuming orcreating. In some embodiments, fading out may be performed only after apredetermined period of time during which the message is displayedprominently.

Fading out may be performed in any required pace, which may bepersonalized, may depend on the content or the message, or the like. Insome embodiments, the duration in which the device is in its currentattention mode may be measured, and the fading pace may also depend onthat duration. For example, after a short inattentive state, such as ifthe user only lowered the device for a short time, fading may beperformed faster than after a longer inattentive state.

Fading out may be performed by changing a transparency level of themessage or the content, changing a color of the content to darkershades, changing the color of the message to lighter shades, exposinghidden content or controls, or the like. p At this step the device statemay also be changed to attentive.

If the readings analyzed on step 304 indicate movements exceeding thethresholds, then on step 308 it may be determined whether the readingsmay indicate movements of the environment such as a moving vehicle, forexample a bus, a train, a plane, or the like. Generally, such movementsmay be associated with significant distances, for example tens ofcentimeters or more per second and optionally along one direction. Insome embodiments, rotation thresholds may be low for such movements, asthe vehicle and people therein are not assumed to be rotating.

In some embodiments, whether the readings are associated with a movingenvironment or human motions may be determined by the readings indifferent dimensions and their interrelationships. For example, a highvelocity or high acceleration in the Z direction may indicate a vehiclejump, while a slower motion in the Z direction may indicate a usermotion. In another example, a significant velocity in direction X, Y ora combination thereof may indicate a moving vehicle, and from thereononly motions in the Z direction may be considered, as user generatedmovements are likely to be very small relatively to the vehiclemovements,

If the movements are associated with a moving environment and not withuser motions, the user is assumed to be attentive and execution passesto step 324 discussed above.

If the movements are associated with a user rather than a movingenvironment, then on step 312 it is determined whether the device statewas attentive. If the device was in inattentive state, then on step 316the message is displayed in inattentive mode, i.e., having significantprominence, e.g. covering, hiding or not showing the actual content.

If the device was in attentive mode, then on step 320 the display isswitched into inattentive mode, e.g., the message is obstructing theactual content more than in an attentive mode. Switching intoinattentive mode may also be performed gradually by making the messagebolder and the content lighter, but may also be performed abruptly,since the user is anyway assumed to be inattentive to the device. Inthis case the state of the device is switched into inattentive state.

Changing the display of a message between attentive and inattentive modemay be performed by changing a transparency level of the message or thecontent, changing a color of the content to lighter shades, changing thecolor of the message to darker shades, hiding content or controls, orthe like.

It will be appreciated that the disclosed flowchart may be repeated asoften as required, for example every few milliseconds, seconds or thelike. The period of time may also vary in accordance with the state. Forexample, when the device is in attentive state, the flow may be repeatedevery few seconds or more, but if the device is in inattentive state itmay be repeated more often for example every fraction of a second, sothat when the user resumes attention he or she will not have to waitlong before they can resume their activity with the device.

Further embodiments for determining whether the device is in attentiveor inattentive state and for displaying messages and/or content may beas disclosed in U.S. provisional Application No. 61/820,732 filed on May8, 2013 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety andfor all purposes. The changing of the display between attentive andinattentive states may be such that the message remains at the samelocation and same size on the display, thus maintaining continuity,expectancy and confidence of the user, When elements change graduallyand not appear, disappear or change abruptly, and when the message doesnot block the user from viewing or creating content for excessiveperiods of time, the user may feel more in control of the situation andis less likely to develop antagonism to the system and the displayedmessages. On the other hand, the message remains visible and optionallyin a central location on the screen for longer periods of time and maythus achieve the required exposure and internalization.

It will be appreciated that in some embodiments the method may beperformed only when the device is active rather than idle, and only whenthe user is in online communication with a network, for example viewingor creating information.

It will be appreciated that switching between attentive and inattentivemodes may be performed in a multiplicity of ways. In some embodiments,the message and the actual content may be rendered on different layers,and the order of the layers may be switched, or transparency level ofany layer may be changed. For example, when in inattentive mode, themessage layer may become the top layer with zero or another lowtransparency, such that it blocks the layer of the actual content. Whenswitching to attentive mode, the message layer may assume a highertransparency degree. Alternatively, the message layer may become thelower layer, but the content layer may assume some degree oftransparency, such that the message layer is visible.

Referring now to FIG. 3B showing a flowchart of steps in a secondembodiment of a method for showing messages in various usage modes.

On step 340, and optionally based on previous readings from sensors,input provided by the user, or any other source, the environment inwhich the device and the user are present may be determined.

The environment may be determined based upon one or more kinematicpatterns in either direction or direction combination. The environmentmay be determined as described for example, in “The Jigsaw ContinuousSensing Engine for Mobile Phone Applications” by Hong Lu, Jun Yang,Zhigang Liu, Nicholas D. Lane, Tanzeem Choudhury and Andrew T. Campbelland published in SenSys 2010, Nov. 3-5, 2010, Zurich, Switzerland, thefull contents of which is incorporated herein by reference for allpurposes.

Based on the environment, relevant thresholds may be determined. Forexample. a base threshold may be set for walking, for riding a bicycle,or the like. In some vehicles, certain measurements may be moresignificant than others. For example, the turning angle will be moresignificant when determining the threshold for a car than whendetermining thresholds for a train which tends to advance more alongstraight lines, while the accelerometer measures may be more significantfor a train than for a car. The thresholds may also be personalized forthe user in accordance with learned or reported movement patterns. Thethresholds may also be influenced by characteristics of the mobiledevice, such as the processing speed of the device. For example, adevice having a dedicated chip for taking and processing themeasurements may thus is faster or more sensitive such that differentthresholds may be set since measurements may be taken and processed atsmaller time intervals.

The thresholds may relate to one or more kinematic parameters or one ormore directions. For example, when a person is riding a vehicle movingsubstantially in a straight line such as a train, motions along theadvancement direction may be ignored. i.e., a high threshold may be set,as information about user motions in this direction are unlikely toexceed the measurement noise. However, motions along the Z direction,rotations in the X-Y direction, or other motions may be considered asindicating user motions and thus low thresholds may be set for thesemotions, such that small motions in this direction may indicateinattentiveness of the user.

In some embodiments, one or more messages may also be determinedaccording to the vehicle type. For example, if it is determined that aperson is riding a train, an advertisement may be suggested for aservice provided at the central train station.

The method may then continue as follows, wherein some steps aresubstantially the same as detailed in association with FIG. 3A above.

On step 300, readings may be received from the various sensors.

On step 302, which may also be performed prior to step 300, it may bedetermined whether the user is actively operating the device, forexample scrolling, starting an application, typing a message, or thelike. If the user is indeed operating the device, step 303 may beoperated, in which no message is displayed.

Otherwise, it may be determined on step 304 whether the readingsindicate movements exceeding the thresholds as determined on step 340 inaccordance with the environment.

If the readings exceed the thresholds, it is an indication that the useris inattentive. Then it is determined on step 312 whether the previousstate of the device was attentive. If it was attentive, then on step 320the display is switched into inattentive state and the state of thedevice is set to inattentive. If it was inattentive, then on step 316the device remains in the inattentive mode.

If the readings do not exceed the thresholds, it is an indication thatthe user is attentive. Then it is determined on step 324 whether theprevious state of the device was attentive. If it was attentive, on step332 the display remains in the attentive mode in which the messageobstructs the content less than in the inattentive mode.

If it was inattentive, then on step 326 a delay can be taken such thatthe user may notice the message, and on step 328 the display may beswitched into attentive state and the state of the device may be set toattentive.

It will be appreciated that environment and threshold determination step340 may be repeated prior to receiving any reading from the sensors, orat other time intervals, such as after a predetermined time interval,after the environment has not changed for at least a predetermined timeinterval, a user selected time interval, or the like. Once theenvironment has been determined to be different then a previousenvironment, the threshold may be reduced relatively to a previousthreshold, thus providing for interpreting movements which are lowerthan previous thresholds, as exceeding the thresholds. For example, if aperson is riding a bus, a high threshold may be set, for the sake of theexample, 20 km/h, such that speed of 10 km/h does not exceed thethreshold and may represent stable environment. When the person gets offthe bus and starts walking, the environment and threshold may bechanged, for example the threshold may be set to 5 km/h, such that aspeed of 10 km/h will be considered as exceeding the threshold. Thus,re-assessing the environment and threshold may provide for more exactbehavior.

It will be appreciated that while the embodiment of FIG. 3B may be moresuitable for a changing environment and the embodiment of FIG. 3A may bemore suitable for a stable environment, occasional determination of thesituation, environment and thresholds may also improve the performancewhen using the embodiment of FIG. 3A. Determination of the situation,environment and thresholds may also be useful for people withinconsistent disabilities, such as people suffering from Parkinsondisease.

Referring now to FIG. 4, showing a schematic block diagram of thecomponents of a mobile device showing messages in various usage modes.

The apparatus enables mobile device 400 to show messages. Mobile device400 may be any mobile device equipped with communication channel to datasources such as the Internet. The communication channel may be GSM, orany other channel operating under any protocol.

In some exemplary embodiments, mobile device 400 may comprise aprocessor 404. Processor 404 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), amicroprocessor, an electronic circuit, an Integrated Circuit (IC) or thelike. Alternatively, processor 404 can be implemented as firmwareprogrammed for or ported to a specific processor such as digital signalprocessor (DSP) or microcontrollers, or can be implemented as hardwareor configurable hardware such as field programmable gate array (FPGA) orapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Mobile device 400 may also comprise one or more I/O devices 408 such asa display, a keyboard, a touch sensor, or the like, to interact with thedevice, provide commands, and receive data or results such as viewcontent, surf the internet, view e-mails or the like.

In some exemplary embodiments, mobile device 400 may comprise one ormore sensors 412, providing information about the position ororientation of the device, or changes thereto.

In some exemplary embodiments, mobile device 400 may comprise or beoperatively connected to one or more storage units or storage devicessuch as storage device 416, for storing for example user preferences andcharacteristics, mobile device details, vehicle kinematic patterns, orthe like. Storage device 416 may be persistent or volatile. For example,storage device 416 can be a Flash disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), amemory chip, an optical storage device such as a CD, a DVD, or a. laserdisk; a magnetic storage device such as a tape, a hard disk, storagearea network (SAN), a network attached storage (NAS), or others; asemiconductor storage device such as Flash device, memory stick, or thelike. In some exemplary embodiments, storage device 416 may retainprogram code operative to cause mobile device 400 to perform acts, suchas acts associated with any of the steps of the method of FIGS. 3A or 3Bdetailed above.

The components detailed below may be implemented as one or more sets ofinterrelated computer instructions, executed for example by processor404 or by another processor, or loaded to or stored on storage device416. The components may be arranged as one or more executable files,dynamic libraries, scripts, static libraries, methods, functions,services, or the like, programmed in any programming language and underany computing environment. Each of the components detailed below may bestored statically or loaded dynamically at runtime to storage device416.

The components loaded to storage device 416 may include sensorcommunication component 420 for receiving readings from any of sensors412. The readings may be received by any appropriate protocol orchannel.

Storage device 416 may also store situation determination component 422for determining based on one or more readings whether a user isstanding, sitting or lying down, or whether the user and the device areinside a moving vehicle, and possibly the vehicle type. Determining theenvironment and in particular the vehicle type may be performed asdetailed in “The Jigsaw Continuous Sensing Engine for Mobile PhoneApplications” by Hong Lu, Jun Yang, Zhigang Liu, Nicholas D. Lane,Tanzeem Choudhury and Andrew T. Campbell and published in SenSys 2010,Nov. 3-5, 2010, Zurich, Switzerland, the full contents of which isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes. It will beappreciated that situation determination component 422 may compriseseparate or combined components for determining a position of the user,a vehicle type in which the user and the device are present, a state ofthe user, or the like.

Storage device 416 may comprise threshold assessment component 424 fordetermining the relevant movement threshold for the situation, dependingon whether the person is in a vehicle and which kind, whether the personis sitting, standing, walking or lying down, or the like.

Storage device 416 may comprise movement assessment component 426 forassessing the movements of mobile device 400, for example determininghow much the device has moved or rotated in any direction, at whatvelocity, acceleration, radial velocity, radial acceleration, or thelike.

Yet another component which may be loaded to storage device 416 is stateassessment component 428, which determines based on the movementsassessed by movement assessment 424 whether the device is stablerelatively to a user even if the user and the device are in a movingvehicle, in which case the user may be assumed to be attentive to thedevice, or unstable in which it may be assumed that the user isinattentive to the device.

Storage device 416 may comprise communication component 432 forcommunicating with data sources such as the Internet, for example viaone or more servers. Communication component 432 may provide thecontent, and may also provide the messages to be displayed in eithermode.

Storage device 416 may comprise or be loaded with display component 436adapted for displaying the messages in the required manner, inaccordance with the device being in attentive or inattentive state. Forexample, when in attentive state, the message may be faded so as toremain visible but not interrupt the user from consuming or creatingcontent, while in inattentive mode the content may be hidden orotherwise concealed.

Yet another component which may be loaded to storage device 416 is dataand control flow component 440 for managing the flow of information andcontrol between other components, for example in response to determiningby state assessment component 428 that the user is attentive, sendingcorresponding instructions to display component 436 to display themessages in a faded manner, or if the device state has changed fromattentive to inattentive to make the message display more boldly, changethresholds in association with parameters such as user parameter,content parameters, or the like.

In some embodiments, mobile device 400 may communicate with a servercomputing platform 444 through any communication channel, such as butnot limited to the Internet. Server 400 may execute one or moreapplications related to the apparatus. For example, server 444 maygather data from one or more mobile devices for assessing theefficiency, effectiveness, or other parameters of the used algorithmsand optionally improving them, changing thresholds or the like. In someembodiments, some of the components, such as threshold situationassessment component 422, assessment component 424, or state assessmentcomponent 428 may be stored and/or executed on server 444 rather than onthe mobile device. Such components may receive data, readings ormeasurements from mobile device 400 through the communication channel,may perform the required computations, and may return the results tomobile device 400.

It will be appreciated that the disclosed components are exemplary only,and refer only to message display. Like any mobile device, mobile device400 may comprise additional components to support any otherfunctionality, such as power supply circuits, drivers, applications andothers.

It will be appreciated that the method and apparatus may also beimplemented by determining attentiveness level of the user based onuser's looking direction, the user's eye movements, or the like, as maybe captured by a camera. When it is determined that the user isattentive, for example by determining that the user is staring at thedevice with relatively little motion, then a message may be displayed ina faded or otherwise unobstructed manner, while if the user isinattentive the message may be displayed obstructively.

It will also be appreciated that responsive to the user losing orregaining attention to the device, the message may be displayed in adifferent manner than before, wherein the different mariner may notnecessarily relate to fading or bolding the message. For example, themessage may be rotated at a predetermined angle; the message may beanimated as if it is vibrating; the message may be displayed with adifferent color, optionally using a darker color when the user isinattentive and a lighter color when the user is attentive; adding anelement such as a bright area or stripe of varying dimensions over themessage, the message may be resized: optionally displaying with a largersize when the user is inattentive and a smaller size when the user isattentive. It will be appreciated that the above manners are exemplaryonly and that other manner changes may be applied as well.

In some embodiments, the message may be displayed in a graduallychanging manner, for example the message may be gradually moved, rotatedor resized, or the like. In some embodiments, the message may beanimated, for example by displaying moving or changing elements.

Introducing changes to the display manner of a message when the userloses or regains attention provides for using generally availablemessages such as existing banners, and do not require specially designedmessages, thus enabling for fast and easy deployment of the method andapparatus. Changing the appearance of a banner between attentive andinattentive state may be done by changing its color, transparency, size,or location, adding an element such as a stripe or another elementmoving along the stripe. or the like.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the parts of thedisclosed subject matter may be embodied as a system, method or computerprogram product. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter may take theform of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computerprogram product embodied in any tangible medium of expression havingcomputer-usable program code embodied in the medium.

Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readablemedium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readablemedium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustivelist) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CDROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as thosesupporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device.Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even bepaper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, asthe program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, opticalscanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, orotherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then storedin a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usableor computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with thecomputer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband oras part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may betransmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited towireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, and the like.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentdisclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programminglanguages, including an object oriented programming language such asJava, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through any type ofnetwork, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network(WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (forexample, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1-35. (canceled)
 36. A computer-implemented method performed by a computerized device, wherein the computerized device displays content, comprising: receiving a reading from a sensor associated with a mobile computing device used by a user; determining based on the reading whether the device is in movement exceeding a threshold; responsive to the movement exceeding the threshold, displaying a message in a first obstructing manner, whereby the content is obstructed, at least partially, by the message; and responsive to the movement not exceeding the threshold, displaying the message in a second manner, wherein the second manner is less obstructing than the first obstructing manner, whereby in the second manner the content is less obstructed than in the first obstructing manner.
 37. The computer-implemented method of claim 36 wherein the second manner is obstructing, whereby the content is obstructed, at least partially, by the message displayed in the second manner.
 38. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein the threshold is determined in accordance with a situation of the user.
 39. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, further comprising determining a position of the user.
 40. The computer-implemented method of claim 39 wherein the position is selected from the group consisting of: walking, standing, sitting and lying.
 41. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, further comprising determining whether the user and the mobile computing device are in a moving environment.
 42. The computer-implemented method of claim 41 further comprising: determining a situation of the user; and determining the threshold based on the situation.
 43. The computer-implemented method of claim 41 further comprising: determining a type of vehicle the user and the mobile computing device are in; and determining the threshold based on the type of vehicle.
 44. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, further comprising: responsive to the movement exceeding the threshold, determining based on the reading whether the movement is due to the device and the user being in a moving vehicle; and responsive to determining that the device and the user are in a moving vehicle, displaying the message such that content displayed on the device is obstructed less than when the movement exceeds the threshold.
 45. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, wherein when the reading indicates increasing motion, the message is displayed more boldly and the content is displayed in a more obstructed manner.
 46. The computer-implemented method of claim 45, wherein the message is abruptly displayed in a more prominent manner and the content is abruptly displayed in a more obstructed manner.
 47. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, wherein when the reading indicates decreasing motion, the message is displayed less boldly and the content is displayed in a less disrupted manner.
 48. The computer-implemented method of claim 47 wherein the message is displayed less boldly and the content is displayed in a less obstructed manner after a predetermined delay.
 49. The computer-implemented method of claim 48, wherein the message is gradually faded out and the content is gradually displayed in a less obstructed manner.
 50. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein the movement not exceeding the threshold or the movement indicating that user and the device are in a moving vehicle, is associated with the user being attentive to the device, and the movement exceeding the threshold and not associated with a moving vehicle is associated with the user being inattentive to the device.
 51. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein the message is displayed with a graphic aspect corresponding to the content displayed on the device.
 52. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein the message is displayed with a shadow surrounding figures or letters.
 53. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein a difference between the first manner and the second manner relates to at least one factor selected from the list consisting of: boldness, location; rotation angle; vibration; color; size; animation; addition of a moving element, addition of a moving element to a banner; and adding an element.
 54. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein transition between the first manner and the second manner is gradual.
 55. An apparatus comprising a mobile device having a processing unit and a storage device, the apparatus comprising: a sensor for providing movement indication of the mobile device; a sensor communication component for receiving a reading from the sensor; a movement assessment component for determining based on the reading whether the mobile device is in movement exceeding a threshold; and a display component for (i) displaying a message in a first obstructing manner responsive to the mobile device being in movement exceeding a threshold, whereby content displayed on a display device associated with the mobile device is obstructed at least partially, by the message, and (ii) displaying the message in a second manner when the movement exceeds the threshold, responsive to the movement being below the threshold, wherein the second manner is less obstructing than the first obstructing manner, whereby in the second manner the content is less obstructed than in the first obstructing manner.
 56. The apparatus of claim 55 wherein: the second manner is obstructing, whereby the content is obstructed, at least partially, by the message displayed in the second manner.
 57. The apparatus of claim 55 further comprising a vehicle type determination component for determining based on one or more readings in which vehicle type the mobile device and a user thereof are.
 58. The apparatus of claim 55 further comprising a threshold assessment component for determining the threshold.
 59. The apparatus of claim 55, further comprising a state assessment component for determining attention level of a user using the mobile device based on output of the movement assessment component.
 60. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein when the reading indicates increasing movements, the message is displayed more boldly and the content is displayed in a more obstructed manner.
 61. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the message is abruptly displayed more boldly and the content is displayed abruptly in a more disrupted manner.
 62. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein when the reading indicates decreasing movements, the message is displayed less boldly and the content is displayed in a less disrupted manner.
 63. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein the message is displayed less boldly and the content is displayed in a less disrupted manner only after a predetermined delay.
 64. The apparatus of claim 63, wherein the message is gradually faded out and the content is gradually displayed in a less disrupted manner.
 65. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the movement not exceeding the threshold or the movement indicating that user and the mobile device are in a moving vehicle is associated with the user being attentive to the mobile device, and the movement exceeding the threshold and not associated with a moving vehicle is associated with the user being inattentive to the mobile device.
 66. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein a difference between the first manner and the second manner relates to at least one factor selected from the list consisting of: boldness; location; rotation angle; vibration; color; size; animation; addition of a moving element, addition of a moving element to a banner; and adding an element.
 67. The apparatus of claim 55, further comprising a server computing platform for receiving a reading from the mobile device, analyzing the reading and returning a result to the mobile device.
 68. A computer-implemented method performed by a computerized device, comprising: receiving a reading from a sensor associated with a mobile computing device used by a user; determining based on the reading whether the user is attentive to the device; responsive to the user being inattentive to the device, displaying a message in a first obstructing manner, whereby content displayed on a display device associated with the mobile device is obstructed, at least partially, by the message; and responsive to the user being attentive to the device, displaying the message in a second manner, wherein the second manner is less obstructing than the first obstructing manner, whereby in the second manner the content is less obstructed than in the first obstructing manner.
 69. The computer-implemented method of claim 68, wherein whether the user is attentive to the device is determined in accordance with the user's looking direction and eye movements.
 70. A computer program product comprising: a non-transitory computer readable medium; a first program instruction for receiving a reading from a sensor associated with a mobile computing device used by a user; a second program instruction for determining based on the reading whether the device is in movement exceeding a threshold; a third program instruction for responsive to the movement exceeding the threshold, displaying a message in a first obstructing manner, whereby content displayed on a display device associated with the mobile device is obstructed, at least partially, by the message; and a fourth program instruction for responsive to the movement not exceeding the threshold, displaying the message in a second manner, wherein the second manner is less obstructing than the first obstructing manner, whereby in the second manner the content is less obstructed than in the first obstructing manner, and wherein said first and second program instructions are stored on said non-transitory computer readable medium. 